Esl Tools €“ Google Translate And Visuals In A Culturally Diverse Classroom

This paper outlines the benefits of implementing a strategy for intercultural awareness and language development in the online English class, which consists of twenty international students, enrolled in the Foundation Year Program. Students come from diverse cultural backgrounds and have an intermediate language proficiency. They aim to improve Romanian language skills to apply for a bachelor’s degree program at a medical school in Romania. The curriculum includes twenty-five compulsory Romanian classes per week but the students are given the opportunity to attend an English class per week, which is not compulsory. The English instructor collected information systematically to get a complete picture of the students’ needs, displaying openness to embrace a multicultural class and sparking conversations to learn about their culture. Then the instructor created an online culturally sensitive strategy to ensure a comfortable and an inclusive teaching and learning environment. The outcomes of this online instructional strategy reveal that students improved their intercultural awareness whereas visuals and Google Translate tasks helped them understand specialized vocabulary and English grammar rules through the lens of their native language. Moreover, students gained confidence to read long texts and wanted to practise more. Therefore, Google Translate is an attractive and efficient tool for building students’ vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation if used in tandem with other online teaching methods designed for honing students’ reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.